Karen Armstrong just doesn’t get it. Criticism of Islam is not prejudicial hatred of people who are Muslim, nor is it the “violation of essential Western values: tolerance, liberalism and egalitarianism,” as she claims. To the contrary: critical analysis, debate, and freethinking dissent are the very foundations of Western values; it is Islamism itself, and its theocratic adherents, that are in violation.

The sad part about Armstrong’s views is that she ignores the fact that nobody suffers more under traditional Islam than Muslims themselves. How many more mosques need to be blown up on a daily basis by rival denominations – each of whom claim to follow the one “true” religion – for Armstrong to understand that the world needs more expressions of of non-violent criticism, not less?